To complete these procedures, you need:
- For iDRAC: IP addresses or FQDNs, login credentials, and Enterprise license applied on all nodes.
- Windows Server 2016 operating image. Note the image location on your system because that is needed for mounting virtual media.
- Host names, management VLAN ID, and IP address information.
- Active Directory site name and administrative credentials.
- Credentials for the administrative account to be used to install Windows.
- Static IP addresses for each of the management servers.
- Optional: Records for hostnames added to the DNS server.
Note: For information about setting up iDRAC, including configuring the IP address, see the iDRAC user guide at Support for PowerEdge R640 on Dell EMC Online Support.
Configure BIOS settings and connect to iDRAC
Note: Performing this step depends on customer workload and operational requirements.
Apply a BIOS settings profile (optional)
Optionally, apply the BIOS settings profile that is optimized for maximum virtualization performance as follows.
Note: You can achieve the same result by using other means, such as remote racadm. This procedure is the quickest approach for most environments.
- Connect to the iDRAC IP address of one of the management hosts by using an SSH client such as PuTTY.
- Log in with the default credentials:
- Username: root
- Password: calvin
- At the /admin1 prompt, enter the following command:
racadm set bios.sysprofilesettings.WorkloadProfile VtOptimizedProfile
- Press Enter.
A success message appears, as shown in the following figure.

Figure 8. iDRAC connection message
- Create a job to process the change:
racadm jobqueue create BIOS.Setup.1-1
- Press Enter.
A success message appears.
- Reboot the management host.
- Repeat the preceding steps for all the remaining management hosts.
Configure the BIOS settings
- Using a web browser, go to the iDRAC web interface at https://<iDRAC address>.
- Log in with the default credentials:
- Username: root
- Password: calvin
- Click Virtual Console Preview to open the remote console.
Ensure that you enable pop-up support in your browser for each iDRAC.
The iDRAC virtual console appears, as shown in the following figure.

Figure 9. Virtual console preview
- Attach the virtual media by selecting Virtual Media > Connect Virtual Media.
- Mount the Windows Server 2016 ISO image by selecting Virtual Media > Map CD/DVD.
- Click Browse, go to the location of the Windows Server 2016 ISO, and then click Open.
This location must be available throughout the installation of Windows Server 2016 on all servers.
You are returned to the Virtual Media – Map CD/DVD menu.
Configure a virtual disk for operating system deployment
Configure a virtual disk for operating system deployment on the PowerEdge14G server:
- If you are not already connected to iDRAC, log in to iDRAC and launch the virtual console.
- From the Power menu, select Power on the system.
The following message appears:
You are about to execute a server control action. Are you sure you want to continue?
- Click Yes.
The system restarts.
- To run the RAID configuration utility, press Ctrl+R when the following message appears:
press CTRL + R to Run configuration utility
- In the configuration utility, select PERC H730, and then press F2 to enable operations.
- From the list box, select Create New VD.
- Complete the following selections:
- Set RAID Level to RAID-1.
- Select physical disks.
- Set the basic settings.
- Use the default virtual disk size and virtual disk name.
Note: The operating system partition is not I/O-intensive. Use RAID 1 for operating system partitions so that they have hardware redundancy.
- Click OK.
The following message appears:
It is recommended that all newly created logical drives be initialized unless you are attempting to recreate a previous configuration and recover data as initialization is a destructive process. Are you sure you want to skip initialization?
- Click OK to create the virtual disk.
- Exit Setup and restart the server.
Boot to the installation media
Boot to the installation media:
- Click Map Device.
- From the Virtual Console menu bar, select Next Boot.
- From the list, select Virtual CD/DVD/ISO.
- Click OK to continue.
The location of the ISO that you have mapped must be available throughout the installation process.
- From the Virtual Console menu bar, select Power.
- From the list, select Power on System or, if the power is already on, select Power Cycle System (cold boot).
After the server powers on, the following message appears, followed by the Windows Server setup:
Booting from Virtual CD
Press any key to boot from CD or DVD.